Chapter 21

I did a karate – like kick into an Eraser's chest, with all my fury, and felt his chest cave in. I watched him fall a long way down into the trees, his mouth oozing blood. Whoops.

I glanced toward everyone else. Fang was blasting huge swaths of darkness across the sky, turning Erasers into red (blood and other stuff) clouds of mist. Angel was making Erasers drop like rocks into the forest, Iggy was blowing holes in bodies, and the rest, including me, were kicking butt.

My wings were suddenly grabbed from behind and bent painfully. Hairy arms snaked around my body, groping me disgustingly. I kicked someone in the happy place with my heel and was let go.

Jakob leered at me, wincing slightly. "Pervert!" I yelled before doing a series of different kicks that must've hurt. His head snapped to the sides many times before he had the sense enough to claw me deep in the calf. I yelped and drew back.

Then I heard a whirring above my head, making my hair stirr and feel alive. I looked up and saw the helicopters, already oozing swarms of more flying Erasers. We didn't stand a chance against more reinforcements. Oh crap, the shark thingys were even here, flying in on reptilian and bone looking wings.

"Guys, move!" I yelled, "I'll handle it!" Max looked into my eyes, probably cloaked over in bloodlust, and dove. Her the leader, me the loose cannon ready to kill or be killed. In this type of hopeless situtation, I won.

All the others followed, even Derrick, half-confused and half-panting after Max. Angel held the ones trailing the Flock at bay. I squared off against Jakob and that Ari dude. Both looked at me evilly. I opened my mouth and screamed the highest I could. Both clutched their ears in pain, trickles of blood running down their hands from their busted eardrums.

Wait for it. EEEEEEEE-BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! The sound was screechingly high for a couple seconds, then the entire sky seemed to implode on itself. My sky turned pure white and I saw the black/red outlines of the Erasers and thingys and helicopters (oh my!) before they got sucked up into the blinding void. Disinigrated, I guess.

I saw the huge chunk of flaming metal from what was once a helicopter too late and dove, getting hit roughly and painfully in the back. What was probably blacked flesh and cloth now made way for streams of blood to roll down and soak my jeans. I cried out in pain, flapping higher. The scent of burnt ozone and flesh wafted through the air. I choked on the thick, roiling smoke.

And then my tunnel of light was getting smaller, the flash fading from the sky. Black crept around the edges of my vision. I realized with a start, that there was no one now to catch me if I fell. My wings folded and I collapsed, dropping like a stone. I swam through the darkness in my head, trying to stay conscious, trying to wake up and fly away.

I was about to lose it when I hit something hard with a sickening crunch. Oh, the ground. My wings and legs and arm, I couldn't move them. Wet and warm slid down in spouts. A screaming pain spread throughout my body and whatever consciousness I had left, I let go of it, slipping into the dark abyss beneath me.